* Commits $100m yearly for health, education
Francis Sardauna in Katsina
The AbdulSamad Rabiu Africa Initiative (ASR Africa) has commenced the construction of a N250 million administrative block and a conference room for the Al-Qalam University in Katsina State.
The project, an initiative of the Chairman of BUA Group, AbdulSamad Rabiu, is part of his 2022 Tertiary Education Grant Scheme (TEGS), which covers 22 tertiary institutions in Nigeria.
Speaking during the ceremonial ground-breaking of the project Thursday, the Managing Director of ASR Africa, Dr. Ubon Udoh, said education is a priority area of intervention for ASR Africa and its chairman.
He said the chairman of ASR Africa was committing $100 million every year to support health, education and social development sectors in Nigeria and Africa at large.
He said: “The Abdu Samad Rabiu Africa Initiative gives grants every year to tertiary institutions to support infrastructure and other aspects of tertiary education. Presently, we have 30 tertiary institutions across Nigeria that are benefiting from this kind of intervention.
“We have a very tedious process of selection, including the performance, vision of existing management structure, and NUC ranking. Al-Qalam University scored very high, especially on the private side of the institutions, and they benefited over N250 million grant”.
Udoh said the chairman of BUA group was passionate about Africans and Nigerians taking responsibility for their own solutions, hence the establishment of ASR Africa to intervene and create home-grown solutions to Nigeria’s challenges.
He assured that the project would be completed within six months, adding that the institution must focus on its sustainability and ensure it serves the purpose for which it was designed for.
He commended the management of Al-Qalam University for their cooperation with the ASR Africa infrastructure team by providing prompt feedback and required documentation on the project to ensure its take-off.
Earlier, the Vice-chancellor of the University Prof. Nasiru Yauri, commended the Chairman of ASR Africa and the BUA Group, for finding their institution worthy of the grant.
He emphasised that the project, identified by the university, is one of its priority needs, as the institution was set to launch its College of Allied Health Sciences for the 2023/2024 academic year, hence the need for a befitting infrastructure for the laudable purpose.
He said: “Upon completion of this project, staff and students under the Bachelor’s Degree programmes in Nursing Science, Public Health, Radiography, Physiotherapy, Optometry, and Medical laboratory in the 2023/2024 academic year, will have lecture rooms and offices for their programmes.”
He applauded the management of the initiative and the chairman of BUA Group for their timely intervention in the project.
